To disagree with attendance awards

[LittleMissUpset]

DS2 came home from school with some chocolate and a certificate DS1 didn't because he had a CAMHS appointment and is now awaiting assessment for ASD, therefore didn't get the attendance award.

I explained to DS1 that school are measured on attendance and they are just trying to encourage the children, but it's not his fault and it's unfair so I will buy him some chocolate too.

It really is unfair, as even if children are off ill it's not their fault.

AIBU to disagree with attendance awards?

Hate them. My daughter had a chronic illness, in nursery her attendance was 75% because of chronic diorhoea and she was exhausted all the time and just slept. Last year she got something like 99.7% and the only session she missed was because of a hospital appointment. For her that was a huge achievement and she was devastated.

My older daughter gets really stressed about being late because of awards at school. I have a toddler and 2 other children at another school, my car is on its last legs and we couldn't get her into any of the nearer schools. She gets very angry when she's anxious and its turned mornings into a war zone despite school reassuring her.

Get rid of these awards, prizes for doing extra computer based school work and pen licences and my life would be a lot easier

My daughter and friends who have braces don't get them any more,they are not bothered.

Riderontheswarm Sat 10-Dec-16 00:25:00
"Attendance awards don't bother me more than any other award. Not everybody can win the maths award, not everybody can win the swimming competition etc. It doesn't matter. ... It is okay not to win everything. It's just a certificate and some sweets."

The difference ime tends to be that when you win the swimming award the PE teacher doesn't do a speech in assembly about how not being good at swimming will ruin your chances in life, complete with statistics showing exactly how unemployable you will be if you do not manage 100 metres at x speed.

A chronically ill child who has to endure those speeches on a regular basis throughout their career can end up with very low confidence indeed.

Also does not make life easier for the parent who has to drag them out of school to make them attend the painful and laborious physio or other treatment which might just make the difference between them ever being able to work or not.

Dd is not a naturally envious person but by the time she reached secondary school she was already convinced that there was no point in trying because somebody with her medical record was a lost cause anyway: the HT said so in assembly at least once a month. She passed her A-levels and is now holding down a job and coping fine- perhaps not least thanks to her mother who forced her to attend that physio and take the flak that came with it.

MrsKCastle: Relax. I didn't say working harder. But they are covering more specialised content and their learning requires more in the way of revision of core knowledge to get them through their exams. It isn't more important, but the impact of missing a few days (not serious attendance problems) is probably greater at secondary, is all I am saying. Feel free to disagree obviously.